As a result, the growth in new-vehicle sales since 1991 has outstripped population growth by almost three times, with the national carpark (the number of cars currently registered) growing from less than 10 million vehicles to more than 16 million.

Callachor said the growth was being driven by the fact that Australia was ‘‘one of the most open and competitive’’ markets in the world.

‘‘Tariff reductions have made Australia an extremely attractive market for the vehicle industry. Ten years ago there were 54 brands on offer. Today, 67 brands compete for the Australian consumer dollar, surpassing the number of brands vying for much larger markets in the United States and the United Kingdom.

‘‘The strong Australian dollar and lower tariffs have made imports more competitive, which, in turn, has put downward pressure on local manufacturers to reduce costs and keep prices low,’’ Callachor said.

8 comments so far

Cars are too cheap in this country (confirmed by suburban dwellers with 4 cars parked out front on the nature strip because the garage is full of 1st world detritus, and the constant gripes about gridlock.

Commenter

Rapidly dwindling road space

Location

Melb

Date and time

January 04, 2013, 2:44PM

In Melbourne the car is THE only choice for transport that is reliable, convenient and gets you everywhere you need to go. Can hardly blame people for going to work using the only mode of transport available to them and buying a new one when the old one is clapped out. At one stage we had 5 cars outside our house, one for each person, because transport is such a joke in Melbourne unless you are loaded and can afford to live next to a good train line. So what, you propose screwing outer suburbs Melbournians further to the wall by further jacking up car prices? The primary reason I left for Perth was the woeful social equity situation in Melbourne. As far as I'm concerned a family needs $400k behind them just to buy into a decent suburb and build a future that doesn't involve being stranded out in Pakenham or the likes. Attitudes like yours don't help those out in the burbs trying to keep their heads above water and earn a living.

Commenter

addy

Location

perth

Date and time

January 04, 2013, 6:59PM

I am not sure if they are too cheap, but i have to agree the amount of cars i see parked at one house day in day out in some cases would far exceed parking regulations if it where a business. This is replicated in more streets as time goes on. My own street we have one house and there is anywhere from 10 to 16 cars there each night. They parallel park nose in right along the nature strip and if one idiot hangs out too much your luck to get through.

Commenter

jamtime

Location

Date and time

January 05, 2013, 11:31AM

Maybe you prefer that they join the bogans and take the bus? As long as they're not black, or Indian, and they don't sing in foreign languages eh?

Commenter

Trogdor

Location

Date and time

January 07, 2013, 7:35AM

A new affordability index is actually required. We should be looking at how long it takes to buy a new vehicle from net income - removing tax and mortgage/rent payments.

Commenter

Peterg

Location

Date and time

January 05, 2013, 7:48AM

New cars may have become cheaper, but the life expectancy has dropped. They dont seem to last as long. Already mentioned, Cars are more affordable, but all other expenses and increased (mortgage, power, water, registration ect),

Commenter

Dave S

Location

Date and time

January 07, 2013, 9:57AM

Import tariff rates has dropped by 5%. Cars from Thailand now covered by TAFTA (another 5% reduction). However, the biggest factor in the last 6 years is the exhange rate. In October 2008 the rate fell to 0.61. Fastforward to now and it's about 1.04. This doesn't just affect the imported models but it also lowers the cost for imported components that are used in the making of Camry, Aurion, Territory, Falcon, Commodore, Caprice and Cruze (hatch and sedan but not the wagon which is imported from Korea).

I still think however that there is more withheld margin that needs to be passed back to consumers as the asking price for some models is ridiculous. Some of us with little understanding of the market dynamics are silly enough to pay the costs for those models and makes so they will continue to stay artificially inflated. Yet most focus solely on federal and state taxes when looking at car prices, if your car hits the LCT threshold then you have a good point, however market pricing is still largely driven by what the market will bear.

Commenter

RS3200

Location

Newcastle

Date and time

January 07, 2013, 1:12PM

pt2

Then there are other costs, dealer delivery fee $900, premium paint $600, sat nav $700, paint protection of $990, bluetooth $400, upgrade in wheel size to one or two inches larger (even though it will ruin the ride) for $2000 sound familiar? The latest scam is fixed servicing costs. Excellent, at least while the car is covered by it. Funny how the next service after the fixed price contract expires can increase by up to 500% over the previous one in some instances but applies only if you continue to service at the officially certified dealer servicing network without questioning it by which time they may try to get you to have another paint protection pack and extended warranty (note the many exclusions), perhaps they can also load the updates on the sat-nav for $300, a fuel injection clean for $400 and load the latest software updates to the engine management system for another $300 too. You can stop laughing now, some owners agree to all of this...